Team behind Carry On, Wren & Wolf sets sights on Arizona Center

The stretch between downtown Phoenix and Roosevelt Row is what Teddy Myers describes as “a bit of a black hole.” But, he also feels there’s potential to change that with Arizona Center – a shopping, entertainment and office complex located near Third and Van Buren streets.

The center, and the spots located inside it, should serve as a primary corridor, says Myers, an operating partner of the hospitality group Pretty Decent Concepts. The group is responsible for eateries Wren & Wolf and Chico Malo and bars such as Trophy Room and the forthcoming Carry On.

“Arizona Center is what should connect that – it’s what should bridge everything from downtown… make it truly walkable and have experiences along the way,” Myers says.

And he is up for the challenge. Pretty Decent Concepts has taken on more than 10,000 square feet at Arizona Center to develop two new restaurants and a craft cocktail bar, which are slated to debut this winter.

What’s coming to Arizona Center

Although Myers isn’t spilling everything about the three new spots, he did offer a tease, saying that the space will be anchored by a steakhouse.

“We are doing our interpretation of an old-school steakhouse that’s going to be swanky, it’s going to have over-the-top design elements,” he says.

Peter Bowden, who has designed the group’s other restaurants and bars, will mastermind the design at Arizona Center, too.

In addition to the steakhouse will be a fine-dining restaurant that Myers describes as “steak-focused but multi-course and very high-end,” as well as a cocktail bar that he says will be immersive but not as thematic as the soon-to-arrive plane-themed bar Carry On.

Although each concept will have a dedicated, separate entry, the spaces will be connected. “You can access all of them under the same roof,” Myers says.

“It would be possible to (visit) all three," he says. "It would make for a killer evening.”

Revitalizing Arizona Center

Arizona Center opened in 1990 to “jumpstart the economy and redevelopment of Downtown Phoenix,” according to the center’s website. It brought big-name retailers and fanfare when it opened, but the center struggled with the ebb and flow of the economy and tenant turnover.

Myers believes it may have been a bit too ahead of the curve, having opened before the Arizona State University campus, light rail and more downtown residents took root.

“There was a lot not going for it when it first debuted,” he says.

In terms of dining, the center was anchored for 32 years by Hooters until the chain closed the location in 2022. The center's current restaurant tenants include Omoide Sushi and Noodle Bar, BoSa Donuts, Chocolate Bash, Cold Stone Creamery and Jersey Mike’s.

Myers sees the opportunity not only to activate this corridor of downtown but also to reimagine this area for visitors and residents alike.

“To us, (Arizona Center) was always the spot to have if you wanted to rewrite the narrative and help craft the direction of the restaurant scene in downtown Phoenix because it’s such a beacon,” he says.

Carry On anticipated to land in May

The new restaurants and bars join another upcoming project for Pretty Decent Concepts. The group's highly anticipated, immersive bar Carry On will harken back to a bygone era of air travel.

The bar, located downtown at 2 N. Central Ave., was originally set to open earlier this year. But building out the fuselage, to create the feeling of being aboard a plane, has created some delays, Myers says.

“It was a major engineering challenge to get it done,” Myers explains. “Nobody’s ever done anything like this before – a curved structure within a structure.”

Now that the fabricators building the plane structure have worked their magic, the team is “full steam ahead,” Myers says. He anticipates a grand opening for Carry On in May.